Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo Shows Support for Boy Badly Beaten at Middle School

When Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo learned about a South Elgin student who was badly beaten during an attack at his middle school last week, he decided he wanted to do something to show his support for the boy.

On Monday, Rizzo sent the following tweet to Henry Sembdner, 12, who is on the mend at a suburban hospital following the Friday attack at Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin.

About an hour later, Rizzo sent out another tweet:

Rizzo has been keeping true to his promise and re-tweeting photos sent to him from parents and students at Sembdner’s school. Here are some of the photos of students who wore Cubs gear today to show their support for Sembdner.

Sembdner suffered brain and skull injuries after he was slammed into the ground when he bumped into another student, according to the Daily Herald. He was placed in an induced coma for much of the weekend.

On Monday, Henry was moved from the Intensive Care Unit to a “regular room,” according to his mother, Karen DeWilde Sembdner, who has been writing about Henry’s medical progress on the CaringBridge website.

“We have been moved to the pediatric side as of this afternoon,” DeWilde wrote Monday. “He is still resting but we are having conversations and he's eating. He's asking to read all the cards that he has received and is very thankful for them.”

Meanwhile, thousands of dollars have been raised for the local family to help pay for medical expenses.
Two GoFundMe pages have been set up to help pay for medical expenses the local family has been slammed with following the “senseless act of violence.” Combined, the two online fundraising sites have raised more than $34,000 as of Tuesday morning.

• South Elgin Boy, 12, Recovering After Being Severely Injured in School Hallway Attack

Photo credit: GoFundMe